Eating my kids' leftovers

AAAAHHHH!!!!  I just can't seem to stop doing it!  Especially when mine was the watered down-low calorie version of what I gave to them.  Today I had a baked potato with margarine, pepper and green onion.  When I cleared their plates I finished off their potatoes with margarine, sour cream, cheese (gasp!), and onions.  I feel like a little rat in the kitchen, eating off of someone else's plate, quickly so no one will notice.

When my defenses are down I'll eat:

The gooey peanut-buttery crusts from their pb & j, any and all french fries left over from fish and chips, anything dessert--yes please!

I have no idea how many calories are sneaking onto my body, I mean, calorie count doesn't exactly have "Leftover sandwich crusts with small amounts of peanut butter and jelly"....or does it???  And when I'm sneaking french fries as I clear the table, I'm not exactly stopping to count them.

I feel so yucky.  So ashamed, but I can't seem to stop myself sometimes. Sometimes I manage to scrape the plates into the garbage quickly enough, before the little morsels start saying..."Come on, just one bite?  How many calories could that possibly be?  It's just a little taste, mmm pb&j, it's been so loooong!"  but not always.

i don't have kids but i do pick and nibble in amounts that are hard to measure so i just do the best that i can.  Maybe you could log the crust as 1/4 pb and j, if you ate a few bites of their cake log it as a brownie...obviously this is not the most accurate but is most likely better than not logging it at all.  Also, maybe if you fill up the extra room on your plate with celery, carrots what ever low cal thing you can chew on whilst they finish.  Might help you pick at theirs a little bit less.  And remember unless you are lactose intolerant cheese isn't so bad......though it is an awfully hard thing to portion control.  Good luck, you'll get better at this.

Maybe it's time to review the kid's menu and see if you can swap some of their junky stuff with better choices?

If you eat their leftover fruit salad or turkey sandwich, it's probably not as bad.

I'd be more worried about the margarine than the sour cream or cheese. Maybe you are under-eating, and that's why you are feeling the need to eat more? Also, I agree with raychelc, my kids and I eat the same foods.

Original Post by solid555:
I'd be more worried about the margarine than the sour cream or cheese. Also, I agree with raychelc, my kids and I eat the same foods.

I agree, same here^

Ever tried Plain 0% Fat Greek Yogurt?  Tastes & looks just like sour cream.  Don't tell the fan, just put it out if they are skeptical. Try that with some s & p on your tater. It's great for a snack or breakfast with some honey & almonds, or a tbsp. on my homemade apple butter.

Ok, I give up...what's wrong with margarine?  It's light, 50 cals per Tbsp...what am I missing?

Traditionally margarine had a lot of trans fat, which is unhealthy. I think now they make a lot of varieties with little or no trans fat, but still it usually has a lot of preservatives and chemicals in it.  And you can never really tell what has trans fat because of the nonsense the FDA allows about rounding to the nearest half a gram per serving. So I just go with a natural alternative like olive oil or butter.

Original Post by sarah_ann_artist:

Ever tried Plain 0% Fat Greek Yogurt?  Tastes & looks just like sour cream. 

Yeah, my daughter discovered that. We were eating tacos and didn't have any sour cream, so she decided to try our 2% greek yogurt. It's not exactly the same, but it is pretty close.

Original Post by solid555:

Original Post by sarah_ann_artist:

Ever tried Plain 0% Fat Greek Yogurt?  Tastes & looks just like sour cream. 

Yeah, my daughter discovered that. We were eating tacos and didn't have any sour cream, so she decided to try our 2% greek yogurt. It's not exactly the same, but it is pretty close.

 

Ugh....sorry, no one is convincing me that 0% yoghurt will substitute for anything that I would want to eat normally, let alone sour cream. Texture is all wrong. Gross invention that should be flushed

Now, sustitute beautiful, healthy full fat yoghurt.....and you have an argument I will support

Original Post by solid555:

I'd be more worried about the margarine than the sour cream or cheese. Maybe you are under-eating, and that's why you are feeling the need to eat more? Also, I agree with raychelc, my kids and I eat the same foods.

This.

I have a 14, 8, 6 and 2 year old at home and we all eat the same food. More beneficial for them to start eating healthy at a young age.

We also munch on the same whole wheat cinnamon muffin and low calorie low fat cheese cake (which is a B+ in CC when I entered it ).

Find healthier alternatives when cooking for most kids won't be able to tell the difference.

And stop eating their leftovers - healthy or not! I've been there and all it did to me was weight gain and guilt! Pack them in a food container and serve later.

Firstly, don't feel yucky or ashamed; it's human nature.

It is so easy, especially if you have a conscience about throwing food away. I hate throwing food away and my kids cringe when they see me eating cold baked beans and pizza crusts.

I actually look forward to the leftovers, they are usually more healthy than the cake and biscuits that I might otherwise eat because I'm hungry before I've started on my meal, and the portions are so much smaller.

I don't think it's wise to alter our kids' diets just so that their leftovers don't make us fat; they have different nutritional needs to us and different lifestyles.

The problem is not eating the leftovers, that's usually fine (within reason). The problem is eating them as well as our own food without making any adjustments.

Try this: for one week write down every single morsel you eat in this way. At the end of the week, look at the list. Then consider how you are going to adjust the rest of you own intake to balance it. If one day you eat 10 chips from your kid's plate, put ten less on yours. If you reckon by the end of the week that you've eaten an extra 500 calories from scraps, then think about ways you can redress the balance. A bit more exercise perhaps?

Or, as a last resort, get a dog.

Scraps can be good, it's not accounting for them that's the problem.

And remember the adage 'stolen sweets are best'; once we have permission to do something, very often we are less inclined to do it.

Best wishes,

Graham

Get the kids to scrape their own plates - Eating the kids leftovers was one of my biggest problems, so I simply got them to clear their own plate when they have finished and place it by the sink - volia no food to pick at and they are helping out in the house!

You have three options.

Have the kids scrape their own plates and place them in the sink.  Teaches them how to clean up after themselves.  Also food doesn't look as appetizing when in the garbage.

Write down every morsel or if you have a scale, weigh everything first before writing it down.  That way you can figure out exactly how many extra calories you are eating.

Give the kids smaller portions and let them have seconds if they are still hungry.  That way they have nothing left on their plates for you to pick at.

Take care

Don't feel bad, it is human nature, however human nature isn't nice to our waistlines at times.

My daughter eats the same food we eat, most of the time. That said, I know about how much she will eat, so I don't give her large portions.  She can always have more.

She does clean her own plate, teaches her responsibility.  And, if she has a lot leftover, either I will wrap it for her to eat later that evening, (we go by the rule you have to eat your dinner before you can have snacks) or if it's something she didn't like, but tried a fair amount,   I will wrap it up for my lunch the next day. The puppy gets the sandwich scraps....

I'm one of those hate to waste food types too.

As for the leftovers, I do the same, can't help myself.  I finished off my son's PB&J this morning - so good!

I'm trying to get my kids to eat the same food also.  They are doing well with the eggs and chicken breasts but so far no luck with the kale and spinach!

Ask yourself this... Am I enjoying the food I am eating?  If not, you need to spend some time finding low-cal options you love.  It sounds like you are a busy mom, so this may be hard, but spend extra time in a grocery store reading labels and picking food that fits your eating plan and that you will love - it can be done. 

For instance, top that baked potato with a 35 calorie wedge of Laughing Cow mozzeralla with sundried tomato and basil - lower in calories than your margarine and WAY more delicious.  Get yourself some sherbert or sorbet and look forward to a small dish of that while you are scraping plates.  Have half a PB&J using Aunt Millies Whole Grain Light Bread at 35 calories a slice, 1 TBSP of Smart Balance PB at 95 calories, and fresh strawberry slices at 24 calories per 1/2 cup.

I know that I don't always eat "clean"...I do eat some processed food and I do eat some artificial sweeteners but I am losing weight and I am enjoying it, which makes it so much easier.

Remember that this is NOT a diet, you are changing the way you are eating for life...you should be able to lose weight and enjoy what you are eating.  If you have a dinner you love, you may find yourself less tempted to eat what you feel you are "missing out on."